1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to denture adhesives or stabilizers, and particularly to an improved denture adhesive composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally, dentures within the mouth were secured by using adherent powders prepared from natural gum materials such as karaya, acacia or tragacanth gum. These materials have the property of swelling to many times their original volume upon the addition of water to form a gelatinous or mucilaginous mass. Cream forms of the adherent, prepared from finely ground particles of the gums, were also available and used instead of the powder composition.
Over the years, there have been numerous improvements over the above-described denture adhesive formulations. U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,812 discloses a denture fixative composition which includes an ethylene oxide polymer having a molecular weight between 50,000 and 5,000,000 in an amount preferably comprising at least 50% of the active fixative material. GB Patent No. 1,444,485 discloses a fixing agent comprising a solution of 4 to 44 wt. % of a polyvinyl pyrrolidone (xe2x80x9cPVPxe2x80x9d). U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,988 describes the use of mixed salts of more than 40-wt. % of a water-insoluble water-sensitized polymeric material consisting essentially of lower alkyl vinyl ether maleic anhydride polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,170 discloses a substantially anhydrous mixture of about 20-40-wt. % methyl vinyl ether maleic acid copolymer, 20-40-wt. % of PVP, and 20-40-wt. % of ethylene oxide polymer.
Recent improvements in denture adhesive technology include the use of a lower alkyl vinyl ether maleic acid, anhydride, or salt polymer or mixtures thereof and one or more metallic salts selected from the group consisting of calcium, magnesium, strontium, sodium, potassium, zirconium, and zinc or mixtures thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,604 discloses a denture adhesive composition comprising specific mixed partial salts of a lower alkyl vinyl ether maleic acid copolymer wherein the partial salts are double salts, i.e., containing from about 10 to 65% zinc or strontium cations; and from about 10 to 75% of calcium ions of the total initial carboxyl groups reacted.
Calcium polycarbophil is commonly used in medical applications for the treatment of constipation or diarrhea by restoring a more normal moisture level and providing bulk in the patient""s intestinal tract with its property as a bulk fiber to expand upon contact with a liquid. Applicants have found that the combination of PEO and calcium polycarbophil, which is not known to be a denture adhesive component, surprisingly yields a denture adhesive formulation which is comparable to denture adhesive formulations based on salts of a lower alkyl vinyl ether maleic acid copolymer in sensory tests as well as cohesive strength, without the need for metal crosslinked polymer systems.
The invention relates to a denture adhesive formulation comprising a denture effective amount of polyethylene oxide (xe2x80x9cPEOxe2x80x9d) and a polycarbophil component. In one embodiment of the invention, the composition consists essentially of from about 1 to 40 wt. % PEO and from about 5 to 40 wt. % calcium polycarbophil.
The invention also relates to a method for adhering a denture to the oral mucosa resulting from the use of the new composition of the present invention.